Psalm 37:3

This is something I did in my IBS class back in April 2007 , and I just came across my notes so I thought I would post it.

Psalm 37:3 - "Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness."

Now, I was studying the word "cultivate," which in the Hebrew is "ra'ah" meaning "to break up in preparation for planting," or "to imply oneself to improving or developing" and the word is also used for "pastor" or "feed."

This reminded me of one of my favorite verses, which is Hosea 10:12, which reads "Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you." As you can see, I emphasized the area that makes me think of cultivating.

So, this all led me to looking at the Psalm in different translations. Now when I first read the verse in class, I read it in the NIV which reads, "Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." My first thought after reading this was, "hmm... enjoy safe pasture, kinda gives me the picture of putting my feet up, sitting in the lawn chair in the shade and enjoying a cool drink of somekind. Really taking it easy." However, that didn't fit my picture of cultivating at all. So then I looked at the NASB, which I quoted above and then the NKJV, which says, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness." and a picture started to form in my head... let me put the verses all together in the order that I see it working;

1st - "Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness." (NASB)

2nd - "Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness." (NKJV)

3rd - "Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." (NIV)

Do you see the picture I see? First, you must cultivate, then you can feed, and after that you get to enjoy the safe pasture.

To me this verse, using the three different translations, can be applied this way:

A relationship with Jesus takes work on our end. It is not just all about "kicking it back" and "enjoying our safe pasture" first we must cultivate our fallow ground, get it ready for planting, for improving, and then we can sow with a view to righteousness, we can seek the Lord and feed on the faithfullness and mercy of Christ, with a hope of the promise to come, which is eternal "safe pasture."

Just my thoughts. Hope they make sense. What do you think?